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4 Comments

With proper planning, how many of the things that we’ll miss could we provide? Consider a large inflatable habitat with plenty of greenery inside. Consider a refrigerator with a variety of meats. Consider hanging out for an hour overlooking Yosemite…using a VR headset, etc.

You guys briefly talk about greenhouses and food systems on Mars, but you continually leave out the animals in those systems. Like it is this far off fantasy to incorporate animals to a garden. Take the broad topic of permaculture: nothing is wasted and everything has a purpose. Add an aquaponic system with a fishery in the greenhouse. Filter the water through an area (plant filters) and add ducks + chickens to that system. Vermicompost the waste material (including human waste). The whole system cycles and grows as sunlight and CO2 continue to be fed into the system. You get fish, eggs, duck meat, feathers, recycled water, recycled oxygen, creation of soil, animal fodder, entertainment, and pleasant sounds (running water/quacks of ducks) A system much more than just fruit and vegetables in practically the same amount of space. We have these systems right here already proving their effectiveness.

Creation of plastics is not out of the question on mars. They will just not be derived from fossil fuels. Nor is the creation of paper, textiles, animal fodder and bedding, fiber, etc. out of the question. We have this magical and underutilized plant known as Hemp. Grown in the greenhouse, we could use it to create the above and much much more.

I have no idea how fish would do surviving in space on the trip to mars. It would be entertaining for the astronauts to have a little fishtank though. haha